A permanent home for the
American Academy of Neurology (AAN) is now in sight, with construction underway and a formal groundbreaking planned for May 19.
AAN, the world's largest association of neurology professionals with 24,000 members, has been leasing a smaller St. Paul building since 1997, according to academy information.
CFO Tim Engel says the lease on its longtime home was to end in 2012. In planning for the future,the academy decided it wanted to stay put in the Twin Cities, but develop a place of its own.
Today, it's building a new $20 million headquarters near the
Guthrie Theater in downtown Minneapolis's historic Mill District.
The Mill District location is ideal, with light rail transit, hotels,
restaurants, theaters, and more, all within walking distance. Those
amenities are good for meetings, of which AAN hosts many, he says.
"The state-of-the-art facility will meet operational needs," and on the flip side, "lots of neurologists will be coming into the area," which will have a positive economic impact, he says.
The five-story, contemporary-styled building will sit on Chicago Avenue
South between Washington Avenue South and Second Street South. It'll
share part of the L-shaped Liner Parcel with Artspace's ArtCube housing
development, which
The Line wrote about
here. (ArtCube will go on Washington between Chicago and Ninth.)
Among
the building's standout features are a "sensory garden" that engages
multiple senses, a rooftop terrace and a state-of-the-art meeting space,
according to AAN information. A unique component of the project is a system of power outlets on the building's exterior that will
deliver electricity to the
Mill City Farmers Market, according to project materials.
In the process, AAN plans to pursue
LEED certification, a national rating system for energy-efficiency through the U.S. Green Building Council.
Its 120-person staff will relocate to the new facility, while the expanded facility anticipates academy growth by about 30 percent, according to AAN information.
Source: Tim Engel, CFO, American Academy of Neurology
Writer: Anna Pratt